Redemption (Stand-Alone, Spin-Off to Reaper Series), page 12
“Oh, what the Hell?” Eve whispered in horror.
Eve hurried into the room, her heart racing as she rushed to the man’s side.
“Let’s get you out of here,” Eve said. “How could they do this to you?”
Eve grabbed the tube that ran into the man’s throat and began to pull it out. It was far longer than she expected, and made a sickening squelching sound as she finally pulled it free, the plastic tube dripping with saliva, stomach fluids, and Eve didn’t want to guess what else. The man said nothing, but continued to stare blankly. Eve began undoing the strap around his head, wondering what she was going to do about the fact that someone had turned his brain into a pin cushion. As she released the strap, however, the man’s head simply fell forward, his neck limp. At the sight of him like that, Eve finally realized that he was dead.
Eve ran her hands through her bright red hair, taking a deep breath. What was this? An experiment? Torture? Both? Based on the clothes the man was wearing, he was most likely one of the homeless people that Javan claimed to be helping, which meant that not only was Javan lying, but he was preying on the needy to turn them into… whatever the Hell this was.
“I need to see those labs,” Eve said aloud.
In only a moment and a flash of violet light, Eve was several floors higher and standing in a room full of beakers, chemicals, and devices Eve had never seen before. Turning on the spot, Eve came face to face with a young, female, scientist in a white coat, her back pressed against a table covered by a white sheet, staring at Eve with a terrified expression. It seemed Eve had appeared right in front of her.
“Get out,” Eve said to her coldly.
The scientist nodded, then quickly ran from the room. It was only when the scientist had left that Eve realized there was something under the white sheet on the table. She could see the shape of it, the rise in the sheet that hid it from sight. Curious, Eve stepped up to the table and grabbed the sheet, whipping it from the table and letting it fall to the floor.
Once more, Eve was horrified by what she saw, except this time her horror was accompanied by confusion. The sight of the objects on that table could not possibly have been there, and yet… there they were.
Eve found herself staring at a pair of great, white, Angel wings.
She knew they were Angelic, because no bird on Earth had a wingspan so wide, nor feathers so bright and luxurious. Eve could see where the wings had been cut from their owner, the stumps looking raw and caked with dried blood. Eve turned away from the wings, unable to look at them any longer. However, in turning away from the wings, she suddenly saw the Angel from which they had come.
He was not an Angel she recognized, but she knew he was an Angel because of his bright green eyes. He had been stripped naked and left on display for the scientists to view. Eve could see a stab wound in his chest, which must have been what killed him. What was particularly difficult for her to see was the fact that he was floating, suspended inside a huge glass case, in a liquid that must have been preserving his body. In life, this had been an Angel. In death… he was an experiment. Nothing more than a frog being dissected in a science class.
“Eve?”
At the sound of her name, Eve turned and saw a man entering the lab through a pair of sliding glass doors, looking at her with confusion.
“Javan,” Eve snarled.
Walking deeper into the lab, Javan glanced up at the Angel corpse and sighed, then returned his gaze to Eve.
“You weren’t supposed to see this yet,” he said.
“And what the Hell is this, Javan!?” Eve roared. “How did you kill this Angel?”
“This is progress,” Javan said simply. “And I didn’t kill this Angel. He died during the invasion. I’ve just kept him preserved.”
“Why?” Eve demanded. “Why do that?”
“To study him, of course,” Javan said. “I’ve been studying him and your kind for years, now. Did you know that there is actually very little difference between humans and Angels? On a cellular level, of course. By studying our friend here, I’ve determined that while all life on Earth has only four base pairs of DNA, Angels have twelve! Not only that, but you have additional chromosomes, all of which perfectly balanced. And you can access parts of your brain that humanity hasn’t even begun to brush the surface of! It’s all amazing stuff, Eve.”
“You’re experimenting on innocent people!” Eve screamed, infuriated further by Javan’s excitement at his discoveries. “I saw the man in the chair, one of the homeless people you told me you were helping!”
“I am helping,” Javan said simply, sounding as though he was genuinely surprised at Eve’s reaction. “I’m helping all of humanity.”
“By murdering them?” Eve demanded. “I know it was you who set up the explosion. You told that man he could kill me!”
At this, Javan sighed, looking deeply saddened. “Yes, it’s true. I arranged the attack. But please, rest assured that I knew no harm would come to you. I may have told him he could kill you, but that was not my goal.”
“And what about all those reporters?” Eve demanded. “What about Isaiah? Did you think about him? What if he had died in the explosion?”
“He would have been fine,” Javan said, waving his hand dismissively.
“Why?” Eve whispered, shaking her head. “Why would you do all of this? I thought you had changed.”
“I have, Eve,” Javan replied. “I’ve improved. I’ve adapted. I’ve evolved. And that’s what I want for the rest of the world. I want all of human kind to benefit from what I’ve learned over the past million years.”
“You haven’t learned a thing!” Eve spat. “You’re still killing people and thinking you can justify it. Thinking that the only way forward is by stepping over the bodies of everyone who gets in your way.”
“Eve, that’s not fair,” Javan said, sounding offended. “I’m trying to do something good for the world, here. Trying to lead them off the path of self-destruction that they’ve paved for themselves. Yes, some sacrifices have had to be made…”
“None of them yours!” Eve yelled, pointing a finger at Javan. “You’re only sacrificing other people! If you were really so righteous, you’d be the one dying for change. And how the Hell does murdering a room full of reporters change the world!?”
“It doesn’t,” Javan admitted. “But it’s a catalyst for what will.”
Javan began walking closer to Eve as he spoke, his tone casual and relaxed, as though he were simply teaching a class on history.
“This will be viewed as a great tragedy,” he explained. “All those people dead, all just trying to do their jobs. Their deaths will bring human focus away from the Angels, such as you, and on to human suffering. How humans have, and always will, kill other humans without remorse, pity, or mercy. The man I convinced to bomb the conference will go down in history as the man who inadvertently brought about a new world. And I will be the one to bring that change. With the help of the Angels.”
“We’ll never help you,” Eve sneered.
“You already have,” Javan pointed out. “Between studying the Angels who died during the invasion, and your appearance at the conference, I’ve ensured that not only will I be seen as a beacon of hope for humanity, a gift from the Angels themselves, but I can pass on my gifts to the rest of the world.”
“What are you talking about?” Eve snapped.
Grinning with excitement, Javan said, “I can make humanity immortal, Eve! Just like me. Just like you! I can bring humanity one step closer to being like the Angels. The cameras at the conference have recorded me healing. The world has now been introduced to the idea that humanity can reach the same level of superiority as Angels. Every human on Earth will want to know how I can heal, and I’ll tell them I’m immortal. I’ll say nothing for a time, allow them to be driven close to madness with their desperation to know, so that the question all but consumes them. And when I have guaranteed that every single man, woman, and child on Earth will listen intently to every word I say, I will tell them everything. Then I’ll tell them about the process I’ve developed to make other humans immortal. Think about it! No more senseless death. No more murder, or genocide, or tragedy! No more children with cancer, no more victims of terrorist attacks! None of it! Every man, woman, and child can live forever, safe from harm!”
“Every human?” Eve repeated. “That’s not possible.”
“Well, maybe not every human,” Javan admitted. “Not all humans are compatible with the process, we determined that some time ago. But those who are eligible will live forever!”
“And what happens to the rest?” Eve asked suspiciously. “The humans who can’t live forever and don’t fit in with your big plans for humanity… What happens to them?”
“Oh, well,” Javan began. “Think of it this way. When a new, stronger, species is introduced to a habitat, the inferior species will inevitably go extinct. It’s just nature’s way of weeding out the animals that aren’t strong enough to survive.”
“So, you’re going to kill them all?” Eve demanded. “Every human you can’t make immortal, you’re just going to, what? Get rid of?”
“You make it sound so cruel,” Javan frowned.
“It’s monstrous!” Eve shouted. “How could you even think about doing this?”
“I just want to make the world a better place,” Javan insisted, almost pleaded. “If a few people have to die to make that happen, then so be it! A handful of lives mean nothing in the eternity of time! I’ve lived for over a million years, do you know how many people I’ve seen die? How many of them could have done great things, if they’d only had enough time? You should understand, Eve. You and your kind are immortal. You, personally, are older than this entire universe. Can’t you see the benefits of humanity also having immortality?”
“Not like this,” Eve said, shaking her head. “They’re not ready. And you… You don’t deserve it. You stole immortality. You stole it from me. Used it to keep killing, to hurt people, to ruin lives! I won’t let you keep doing this. I never should have given you intelligence. You’re pure evil.”
Javan stepped back as though Eve had slapped him. “Eve,” he said, sounding hurt.
“I can’t undo what I’ve done, no matter how much I wish I could,” Eve continued. “But I can take back my feathers.”
Eve then held out her hand as though she was reaching for Javan. His shirt suddenly ripped open, revealing his muscular chest and the feather tattoos that marked the location of the real ones beneath his skin. Just as Javan looked down at his torn shirt in surprise, he suddenly cried out in pain and clutched at his chest. Gritting his teeth and pressing his hands down over the red feathers on his chest, Javan then fell to his knees. There was blood rising from his chest, all around the feathers he had stitched into himself. Eve was tearing them out of him, without laying a hand on him.
“I’m sorry, Javan,” Eve said flatly. “I can’t let you keep hurting people. I can’t let you keep hurting me.”
“Eve,” Javan begged. “Please. Stop.”
Before Eve could reply, she suddenly sensed movement behind her. Turning her head, she only just caught a glimpse of something press against the side of her neck. An instant later, there was the sound of compressed air coming from the object and Eve felt something sharp pierce her neck.
“Ow!” Eve shouted, losing concentration on Javan and flaring her wings in defense. She turned to see a man holding a gun-shaped device with a syringe placed inside of it, backing away with a nasty grin on his face. Eve stared at the man in shock, unable to believe who she was seeing. The man from the Garden. The man who should be dead.
“Jack Rice?” she asked in disbelief.
Before anyone could say anything else, Eve suddenly collapsed onto her knees. She felt an uncomfortable burning sensation rushing through her veins. Something was wrong. She needed to get away.
Eve tried to open a vortex, but the violet light merely flickered and then died, never opening up enough to allow her to escape. As hard as she tried to open another, the light never came back. She began to feel weak and dizzy, the room spinning around her, faster and faster. She saw Javan rise to his feet, wiping blood from his hands on his pants. Eve stared up in confusion as Jack Rice walked around her, smiling wickedly, until he stood by Javan’s side.
“I knew you’d come if someone told you I still lived,” Javan said. Eve could barely hear him, his voice sounding distant and garbled. “I only wish it didn’t have to be like this. I wanted your help, Eve. Well… I suppose you’ll still help. You just won’t be as willing as I’d hoped.”
Eve felt something lightly brush against her cheek as it fell to the floor at her knees. Looking down, Eve wasn’t sure what to think of what she saw.
A single red feather. As Eve stared at it, swaying on her knees as she fought against the spinning room, another feather fell beside it. Followed by another, and another. Eve reached up over her shoulder and felt for her wing. At her touch, a dozen more feathers fell away, all of them having become as frail as the petals on a dead rose. To Eve’s horror, shortly after her feathers hit the floor, they dried up and shriveled, like fallen leaves left in the sun.
“What have you done to me?” Eve asked weakly.
“I’m sorry, Eve,” Javan said, sounding sincere. “You left me no choice.”
Looking over her shoulder, Eve watched in horror as her wings dissolved. The feathers all simply fell away, dying before they even hit the floor. And just as quickly as the feathers fell, her wings fell apart like chalk. They crumbled and faded away in only seconds, until Eve was kneeling in a pile of white and red powder, quivering in shock. She looked up at Javan and Jack Rice, suddenly unsure of what to do or what to say. Jack Rice was grinning down at her with a cruel smile, his blue eyes suddenly far too blue. They glowed brighter, the sudden change in them as inexplicable as how he had been in the Garden if he was not dead. Javan was looking down at Eve with pity. When he spoke, his voice was full of regret, and as the spinning of the room caused her to teeter on the brink of unconsciousness, Eve understood what had happened.
“You know what they say, Eve,” Javan said sadly. “Your mistakes… they’re what make you human.”
Then the spinning stopped and the world went black as Eve collapsed amidst the powder that surrounded her, clutching the remnants of her once glorious wings.
12
THE FALL OF MAN
B
right lights passed by overhead. Eve drifted in and out of consciousness and in her moments of brief awareness, she felt as though she was floating. She tried to feel her wings stretched out beside her as she flew, but she could not. She could instead feel the firmness of a mattress beneath her back. She could hear the squeaking of wheels on a smooth surface. And still she felt like she was gliding on her back, looking through barely-open eyes at the bright lights above.
“Javan,” she whispered, not even realizing that she had spoken. She felt delirious and weak, like she hadn’t slept in months. She tried to lift her arms, but found she didn’t have the strength to move them more than a feeble inch. “Javan…”
Eve began to drift back into unconsciousness, her mind drifting back, far back, into the past.
She had been feeling sorry for herself for weeks. Ever since Javan had murdered Boulder and the rest of the tribe that he had deemed “unworthy,” Eve had kept to herself. She had remained on Earth, however, as word of what she had done was beginning to spread amongst the other Angels. Not only were they shunning her for having created a monster, but she was ashamed. She had not seen her father in weeks, purposely avoiding him so as to not have to see the look of disappointment in his eyes. However, this only made her feel worse, because he had also not sought her out, proving to Eve that she had made an irreparable mistake.
Eve was lying low in the cave where she and Javan had first spoke, where she had given him the gift of sentience, unlocking his mind so that he was able to think, to plan, to survive. Except, as Eve sat in the cave, lit only by a small fire, hugging her knees to her chest, she was overcome with bitterness at how Javan had perverted her gift. She stared blankly into the fire, longing for the days where she and Javan had simply talked. He had thirsted for knowledge back then. Had asked so many questions. Eve had been happy to answer them, but now she wondered if she should have.
“Are you all right?”
Eve looked up and saw Gabriel standing inside the cave, just by the entrance. He had apparently just come inside, but Eve had been too distracted to notice.
“Fine,” Eve said thickly, looking away. She didn’t want to look at her brother just then. She was afraid of seeing his disappointment as much as her father’s.
Eve heard Gabriel sigh gently, then heard him move across the cave toward her. He sat down beside her and joined her in staring into the flames, not saying a word. The silence between them stretched on, Eve growing more aware of it by the second, even though Gabriel seemed relatively at ease. Finally, the unspoken words between them were deafening to her and she had to speak.
“Is Father angry with me?” Eve asked quietly.
Gabriel shook his head. “No. I don’t think he’s even capable of anger. He is worried about you, though.”
“He is?”
“Of course,” Gabriel replied. “So am I. You’ve been hiding in this cave for weeks.”
“Why hasn’t Father come to speak to me?” Eve asked.
“He wanted to let you think,” Gabriel explained gently. “Then, when you’re ready, you can come home. He said you need to figure some things out before you’re ready to hear him.”
Eve nodded. “I do. I need to figure out what went wrong. What happened, Gabriel? Why did Javan kill those people? Those children? They did nothing wrong. Why would he do it?”
Gabriel thought for a moment. “I don’t know, Eve. We still have much to learn about these creatures. Perhaps when you gave him knowledge and understanding, he did not receive your compassion. Your morals. I believe he is all facts and information, with no heart.”
